SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois cattle and beef producers will be gathering in the Peoria area for the Illinois Beef Assoc. (IBA) Summer Conference and Industry Tours June 20-22, representing the IBA’s first planned central Illinois gathering.

“We’re really excited to be in the Peoria area this year and we hope (producers) take time to attend,” said Eric Johnson, media representative for the IBA. “We’ve got a great event planned, but people need to get registered very soon.”

With the conference scheduled to kick off in less than a week, the final roster of speakers, seminars and special events has been finalized. Guest speakers include J.D. Alexander, president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc. (NCBA) and NCBA CEO Forrest Roberts; Mary Bell, Caterpillar, Inc. vice president of building construction projects; Colleen Callahan, state director for the Illinois Office for Rural Development; cattle experts from the University of Illinois and Purdue University; and others.

Workshop topics will include feed efficiency, ethanol co-products such as corn gluten and distillers dried grains, connecting with consumers and the market outlook. Special events include the Illinois BEEF & Awards Banquet, a Peoria-style BBQ, riverfront party and YPC auction, a PAC fundraiser auction and industry tours of area factories and farms.

Along with attending seminars, banquets and tours of local landmarks such as Caterpillar world headquarters, Keystone Red Brand wire factory and Funk Family Trust farms, cattle producers will have plenty of time to discuss current affairs with contemporaries and colleagues in the IBA.

According to Johnson, some of the issues producers will focus on include expanding the beef industry, maximizing potential, profitability and product quality. “Being able to better promote our product to consumers is important,” said Johnson. “Finding more efficient ways to feed our cattle and better ways to precondition our cattle without spending as much money (through) a nutritional strategy is another top issue, as is the market outlook.

“Reaching out to legislators is important to our members. We’ve invited a number of legislators from the Peoria area and we encourage them to attend. We thank them for the work they do for us on issues of importance to cattle-producing families.”

Interaction with fellow producers may be the most compelling reason to attend the IBA Summer Conference. “There is so much value in seeing and talking with other producers,” he said. “We have something planned for all ages of people involved in the cattle industry.

“Take a breather from the farmstead and come back refreshed. Our goal is for producers to be able to walk out of this conference knowing a lot more about the industry than they did when they walked in.”

Most conference-related events will be held at the Embassy Suites in East Peoria, directly across the Illinois River from downtown Peoria. Past IBA summer conferences have been held in Sandwich, Galena, Springfield, Quincy and St. Louis, Mo. The 2013 conference is tentatively planned for the Champaign-Urbana area, according to Johnson.

For more information on this year’s conference and tours, visit www.illinois beefonline.com